UPPER VALLEY HOCKEY LEAGUE

Battle for the Bronze: Tuck @ Gamblers

ODDS:	Gamblers by 2 goals
OVER/UNDER:	8 goals

Many had predicted that it would all come down to the Gamblers & Tuck in the playoffs, and in some respects it did....as the #1 and #3 seeds battle for the bronze medal. Tuck's slow start put them in a 6-1 hole early in their game against the Nordiques. They came back to form halfway through the 2nd period, but ultimately fell 7-5 on an empty netter. The G-Men were bullied all over the ice by the Brewers, who took their shenanigans to a whole new level as they took the high powered Gamblers off their game in a 7-3 beatdown.

Both rookie goaltenders were shaky last week in their first UVHL postseason action, but should return to form in this game. The Gamblers have had Tuck's number this year, winning 3 of 4 games and losing the other one in a shootout. On the other hand, the Gamblers had dominated the Brewers all season long....and look what happened there.

Look for the MMA line to be dominant again. They will have healed from the bumps and bruises the Brewers gave them last week and they will want a bit of redemption as well. Tuck was without 2 of their top forwards last week and if they are in the lineup tonight they will put up good fight against the Gamblers.

The Gamblers should pull away in the 3rd period winning this one 5-3.

Top Seeded Gamblers finish 4th, Upset by Tuck 7-4

The battle for the Bronze saw two teams that many thought would faceoff in the finals, settle for a 3rd or 4th place finish. Tuck was coming off of a 7-5 loss to the Nordiques where a VERY slow start, put them in a hole that they almost dug themselves out of, just falling one goal and an empty netter short. The Gamblers were the clear cut favorite to win the Whalen cup after going 20-1-2, but were upset by the eventual champion Brewers 7-2.

The tone of the game was set early, as the Gambler's netminder, Greg "First Period" Feiden, let in 3 of the first 6 shots he saw in the first period. In all reality, Feiden didn't have much of a chance on any of the 3 goals, as Tuck moved the puck around as if there wasn't an opposing player on the ice. The G-Men did strike first on a beautiful back-door pass from Matty "The Milkman Always Delivers" Marrazzo to Danny "The Backdoor Animal" Ammel just 3:11 into the period. From there it was downhill for the Gamblers as Tuck scored on their 2nd, 4th & 6th shots of the game. The first was a turnover from waterboy turned forward turned defenseman, Jason Young "Blood". Young was in the near corner in his own zone and tried firing a cross-ice clear through his zone that was easily picked off by Andrew "Van" Helming, who quickly move the puck to Halsey "Turn your head and" Coughlin in the high slot. Coughlin faked a shot, juked the other defenseman and went to his backhand for a beautiful goal that Feiden didn't have much of a chance to save.

Steve Bates took the lead for Tuck on the powerplay and with 4:40 to play in the first. With Mikey Harrington in the box for Tripping, Derek "Kojak" Novak, Coughlin & Bates had an odd man rush in their favor that saw Nowak slow up and feather a pass to Coughlin down low. Coughlin dropped the shoulder as if he was going to head behind the net before feathering a perfect backhand pass to Bates who was crashing the far post. Feiden came across the net in time to take everything low away, but Bates had enough room & time to fire the puck up and over the sprawled out netminder for the 2-1 lead. Steve "They Killed" Kenning made it 3-1 after burying a huge rebound from a Ryan "The Govenator" McGovern slapshot. McGovern had one of his best nights of his UVHL career, as he tallied 4 assists and contributed some solid defensive play to the win.

At the end of the period, Danny Yacey looked like a champ as he turned away 14 of 15 shots to Feiden saving 5 of 8. Despite the sheer number of shots that the Gamblers put on net, only a small percentage of them were quality scoring chances, where Feiden had to work hard on all 8 shots he faced.

END OF THE FIRST: Gamblers 1, Tuck 3

Tuck tallied the first two goals of the second period, both from James "Willy Mayes" Hay and both shorties on the same penalty. The first started in their own defensive zone with a big save from Yacey that he kicked out to Nowak, and quickly turned into a 2 on 1 with Hay. Nowak, like a seasoned pro, drew the defensemen to him and after he had over-committed dished the puck to Hay. Hay took the puck on his forehand, cut across the top of the crease and burried it past Feiden. 26 seconds later, Hay was at it again as he beat Feiden with a slapshot from the boards that somehow beat Feiden cleanly far side.

The Gamblers looked devastated after allowing the 2 shorthanded goals, but they wouldn't learn as they allowed a 3rd one to start the 3rd period. The shorties did seem to light a fire under their asses, and they collected the next two goals on beautiful backdoor passes. The first came from a Marc "The Narc" Gattie to Tyson Seely pass with 5:07 to play, and followed by a Marrazzo to Willy "The Miserable" Meyer to Ammel goal with just 9 seconds to play.

Shots were a bit closer in this period with Tuck throwing 10 at Feiden and Yacey seeing 11 from the G-Men.

END OF THE SECOND: Gamblers 3, Tuck 5

After the close of the 2nd period, you would assume that the Gamblers were finally on their horses and ready to turn the game around. They had scored the last two goals of the period and the ice was starting to tilt in their favor. To top it all off, they received a powerplay just 28 seconds into the period when Tuck's Johnny "The Big Red Dog" Clifford went to the box for cross checking. The timely penalty from Clifford sent a teamwide brain fart to the entire Gamblers squad, giving up a shorthanded breakaway to Nowak who burried it 5-holio on Feiden for the 6-3 lead.

McGovern added his 4th assist with 11:27 to play on a point shot / pass that James Carrihill tipped past Feiden. Reuben "The Tiger" Lyons jammed home a rebound from a Gattie pointshot to close out the scoring with 9:19 to play and a 7-4 imminent final score.

The turning point in the game was the back to back shorthanded goals that the Gamblers gave up, putting the game out of reach 5-1. They seem to have lost their way from their regular season dominance where their defense focused on defense and their offense pounded out goals. It was a great game to watch, fairly clean with only 5 penalties all night. Yacey turned away 31 of 35 shots and Feiden turned away 26 of 33.

END OF THE GAME: Tuck upsets the Gamblers for the Bronze, 7-4

 

Team:	Time:	Type:	Player:	Details:
1st PERIOD
GMB	11:49	Goal	Ammel, Robert(35)	Assist(s): Meyer, Will(33) Marrazzo, Matt(41)
TCK	11:29	Goal	Coughlin, Halsey(15)	Assist(s): Helming, Andrew(18)
GMB	09:11	Penalty	Fraser, Scott(8)	2 minutes for Interference
GMB	06:27	Penalty	Harrington, Mike(11)	2 minutes for Tripping
TCK	04:40	Goal	Bates, Steve(6)	Assist(s): Nowak, Derek(14) Coughlin, Halsey(14)
TCK	01:13	Goal	Kenning, Steve(2)	Assist(s): McGovern, Ryan(18) Nowak, Derek(15)
2nd PERIOD
TCK	12:07	Penalty	Kikuchi, Ryuji(3)	2 minutes for Holding
TCK	11:36	Goal	Hay, James(23)	Assist(s): Nowak, Derek(16) Yacey, Daniel(2)
TCK	11:10	Goal	Hay, James(24)	Assist(s): McGovern, Ryan(19)
GMB	05:07	Goal	Seely, Tyson(10)	Assist(s): Gattie, Marc(19) Lyons, Reuben(10)
GMB	00:09	Goal	Ammel, Robert(36)	Assist(s): Meyer, Will(34) Marrazzo, Matt(42)
3rd PERIOD
TCK	14:32	Penalty	Clifford, John(5)	2 minutes for Cross Checking
TCK	13:22	Goal	Nowak, Derek(11)	Assist(s): McGovern, Ryan(20)
TCK	11:27	Goal	Carrihill, Colin(5)	Assist(s): Bates, Steve(12) McGovern, Ryan(21)
GMB	09:19	Goal	Lyons, Reuben(4)	Assist(s): Malcolm, Allison(17) Gattie, Marc(20)
TCK	06:37	Penalty	McGovern, Ryan(4)	2 minutes for Hooking

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Game Comments:
hkydoc WRJ, VT Registered: Jan 2004 Posts: 517	What, no pre-game chatter? Apr 13th, 2010 04:02 PM Huh? Don't you guys even care about 3rd Place honors? This is a real game, so don't forget to show up. McD